Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor/Lecturer Mitchell McEwan mitchell.mcewan@mq.edu.au Contact via email Lecturer Cameron Edmond cameron.edmond@mq.edu.au Contact via email
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites 130cp at 1000 level or above including COMP2150 or COMP2160
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description Students will work in groups to create a video game using a commercial-level game engine. This will enable them to apply their previously acquired skills in video game design and development to a substantial project. Teams will be expected to develop their own concept for the game and validate it through the production of a vertical slice. This will require creative design, the production of supporting documentation, quality control, and other associated skills and concepts. Teams will be expected to produce a compelling game proposal and meet regular agreed milestones as well as producing game documentation and conducting playtesting to evaluate their game prototype.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Apply agile development processes (prototyping and playtesting) to complete concept and pre-production phases of a video game design and development project.
ULO2: Establish a self-managing team and practise shared accountability to deliver on agreed milestones.
ULO3: Communicate the target experience and core mechanics of a game design to a variety of audiences in both oral and written form.
ULO4: Design the core mechanics of a game in order to achieve a desired player experience.
ULO5: Independently reflect on and research game design and development roadblocks in order to overcome early production challenges with creative solutions.
ULO6: Conduct user research to evaluate game prototypes and find areas for improvement.
ULO7: Evaluate your own performance through self-reflection.

General Assessment Information

Assessment Latest Release Dates

Elevator Pitch – Monday February 24th
Pitch – Monday March 3rd
Project Plan – Monday March 10th
Playtesting Plan – Monday March 10th
Milestones – Monday March 10th
Vertical Slice – Monday April 7th
Design Document – Monday April 28th
Playtesting Report – Monday April 28th
Postmortem – Monday April 28th

Peer Assessment

The group-work component of the assessment (Project Plan & Design Document, Milestones, Playtesting Plan & Report, Vertical Slice) will be marked in common for all group members, however individual marks will be moderated based on agreed contributions according to individual peer assessment feedback (submitted alongside milestones) and in-person design and production meetings in workshops, to assess contributions and performance. Failure to submit individual peer assessment in a timely manner may also impact a student's individual mark.

All work submitted should presented in a professional format to industry standards.

Requirements to pass this unit:

To pass this unit you must:

Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.

Late Assessment Submission Policy

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern. For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration. For example, if the assignment is worth 8 marks (of the entire unit) and your submission is late by 19 hours (or 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds), 0.4 marks (5% of 8 marks) will be deducted. If your submission is late by 24 hours (or 47 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds), 0.8 marks (10% of 8 marks) will be deducted, and so on.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows:

Elevator Pitch - NO, unless Special Consideration is granted
Pitch - NO, unless Special Consideration is granted
Project Plan – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Playtesting Plan – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Milestones – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Vertical Slice – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Design Document – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Playtesting Report – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies
Postmortem – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through http://connect.mq.edu.au/.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Elevator Pitch	6%	No	27th February 11:55pm
Pitch	5%	No	6th March 11:55pm
Project Plan	5%	No	20th March 11:55pm
Playtesting plan	5%	No	27th March 11:55pm
Milestones	24%	No	April 10th, May 8th, June 13th; 11:55pm
Vertical Slice	15%	No	8th June 11:55pm
Design Document	15%	No	12th June 11:55pm
Playtesting report	10%	No	12th June 11:55pm
Post-mortem	15%	No	19th June 11:55pm

Elevator Pitch

Assessment Type ¹: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task ²: 4 hours
Due: 27th February 11:55pm
Weighting: 6%

A pitch for a novel game idea to the class in a 2 minute oral presentation.